***
Gyeonhui stood in front of his office window and looked down at the building.
He saw Sun slowly coming out of the building and walking away.
Every step she took, he felt pain in his heel, but what was more unbearable was the pain in his chest.
He clutched his chest and exhaled a shallow sigh.
“Are you okay?”
Ojae, who was watching from the side, asked him carefully.
“… How about Chakyeong?”
Gyeonhui chose to ask a question instead of giving an answer.
“That’s…”
“Why? Can’t you get a hold of her, either?”
“That’s…”
Ojae hesitated several times and struggled to speak.
“She said that if you have something to talk about, come to her yourself…”
An expressionless smile showed up on his face.
“I know she isn’t right… I’ll tell her that…”
“I’ll go.”
“Sorry?” Ojae seemed surprised.
“She’s a person who is still worthy of using. I’ll go because I need her help.”
“Oh, okay…”
He calmly watched the back of Sun go away.
Soon after, she was swallowed up by the trees; he turned his body and exited the office.
“What the hell is going on…”
Ojae was left alone in the office, tilting his head sideways seemingly dumbfounded.
***
In a bar near Sun’s house.
“Hey, here it is! Here!”
On the voice that was calling her, Sun turned her head and found Ari.
Ari and Eunyoung’s face was already blushed, for they were drunk.
“Why are you so late?”
Eunyoung’s posture was poor, and she was also slurring her words as she spoke.
“I had to finish up the rest of my work. What’s up? Why are you drinking in the middle of the day?”
“Time doesn’t matter. Give me another bottle here, please.”
“… How much has she drunk?”
Upon hearing her question, Ari began to count her fingers while furrowing her eyebrows.
“Four bottles?”
“Four?” Sun seemed to be amazed.
“Yeah, it’s not important how much I have drunk.”
“Then what’s important?”
“That’s obviously you.”
“Me?”
Eunyoung nodded at Sun. Ari had been hesitating for a moment but slowly started speaking,
“Eunyoung, our boss says we’re going to move out.”
“Moving out from where?”
“… From Consencio.”
Ari saw Eunyoung’s face and said it carefully.
“What?”
Sun’s eyes widened and looked at Eunyoung.
“He abuses you every day, and I can’t let this happen anymore. We’re moving out tomorrow, period, end of story.”
“Eunyoung…”
“Yes. I’m your boss and the president of this company. It’s my company, so I’m going to do it my way. Don’t even try to stop me.”
Her words blended into a sigh that didn’t seem like she had thought about it only once or twice.
“Hey, I’m really fine. I mean it. I’m completely done with him, and I’m getting more used to seeing him because I see him so often anyways. I have no feelings for him anymore.”
Sun tried to stop Eunyoung, but she was only shaking her head while saying no. “Hey!”
Eunyoung suddenly shouted at Sun.
The people in the bar looked at the table that three shouting people in it.
“If you’re in pain, just tell people that you’re suffering! Would you magically be fine just because you said you’re okay?”
“Hey, boss…”
“Let go of me! What’s worse than deceiving others is deceiving yourself, so just stop!”
Ari tried to stop Eunyoung, but it was beyond her ability. Sun was in shock, and her mouth was closed tight with a severe face.
At that time, the server at the bar approached them carefully.
“Here are the bottled beers.”
The server felt an unusual atmosphere and ran away as soon as he dropped the beer bottles on the table.
“Do what I say this time. We’re moving out tomorrow.”
Eunyoung nailed her words again to emphasize her thoughts.
At that time, Sun was lost in her thoughts and remembered what Gyeonhui had said before.
‘You already owe a lot of people.’
“… He isn’t wrong.” Sun smiled bitterly and mumbled to herself.
“What?”
Eunyoung asked. She had not heard her properly.
Sun picked up a beer bottle silently and started to drink. The beer flowed out of her mouth, but she ended up finishing the whole bottle.
“Oh, what’s wrong with you?”
Ari called Sun with a worried expression.
‘Tak.’
Sun planked the bottle down on the table loudly, took a deep breath, and slowly started speaking.
“… You’re right. I was never okay.”
Sun’s words surprised Eunyoung and Ari.
“No, actually, I didn’t even know that I was okay or not because I should have always been okay, but…”
She paused for a moment, took a breath, and started speaking again.
“I didn’t know that I was going to make it harder for everyone around me. I’m very sorry.”
“Hey, Sun… Eunyoung doesn’t mean that we are in trouble…”
“I know, but the bottom line is that we’re all suffering in many ways. I’m just trying to say that I just realized that.”
Sun turned her head and looked at Eunyoung.
“I know what you mean, but let’s not move out.”
“Hey, Sun.”
“I’ve realized it clearly because of you, Eunyoung. I can’t get any better if I move out of Consencio.”
“What the hell? Why would you not be okay after avoiding him for a while?”
“… Because like you just said, I’m avoiding him instead of facing him.”
Her sincere words made Eunyoung’s eyes shake.
“The reason why I always said that I was okay was that I always ran away from trouble. I let troubles go by saying that it was okay so that there was nothing to break or nothing to hurt. However, that was a mistake. In the end, I was never okay, and as a result, I’ve damaged everyone around me and caused all of you to worry about me.”
After pausing for a moment, Sun started speaking again.
“If I leave Consencio, that means that I’m just running away from my troubles again. I want to face them and fight against them, so I could really become okay, so please help me.”
“… What the hell do you mean you’re going to beat him?”
Eunyoung, who was listening Sun, entreated her. Sun answered with a bitter smile.
“… I’m not trying to beat him. I’m trying to beat myself.”
Upon hearing her answer, Eunyoung looked at her still.
Her calm, lying eyes were implying her firm determination.
58. Your Problem
Eunyoung suddenly inhaled the beer. When Eunyoung emptied her drink at once, she started speaking as she looked straight at Sun.
“Alright. Do whatever you want. Don’t be defeated in this, got it?
Sun smiled and nodded.
“Ari. Order three more bottles.”
“Really? Will you drink more?”
“Sure. Are you going to end the party like this? We drink today and die together. How about that?”
“Hey, boss…”
Ari was flummoxed and looked at Sun, asking for help.
“I’ll drink to that!”
As Sun threw a helping word, Ari made a long face.
“Give us three more bottles here, please…”